Congress Can’t Oppose Tharoor’s Stand On Pakistan, But The Discomfort Is Hard To Miss

Last Updated:May 28, 2025, 17:48 IST

Shashi Tharoor’s role in India’s global anti-terror pitch has unsettled Congress leaders, who can’t criticise him without seeming offside on national interest

A file photo of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor (PTI Image)

It’s Shashi Tharoor versus his party yet again.

The latest flashpoint is a public swipe from Congress leader Udit Raj, who has said that Tharoor “speaks like a BJP spokesperson."

“Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is the super spokesperson of the BJP, and what the BJP leaders are not saying, speaking in favour of PM Modi and the government, Shashi Tharoor is doing…Does he (Shashi Tharoor) even know what the earlier governments used to do?… They (the Central government) are taking credit for the Indian Armed Forces," news agency ANI quoted Raj as saying.

So far, the Congress has not reprimanded Udit Raj — and that, sources say, makes it clear he has the backing and consent of the party leadership.

In fact, the party “kind of agrees" with Udit Raj, say sources, and is questioning why Tharoor made a statement claiming that the Line of Control was not crossed before the 2016 surgical strikes. The party is also asking why Tharoor appears to be “undermining the Congress achievements."

In recent days, the Congress has upped its attack on the government, with Rahul Gandhi leading the charge. He has asked why the Modi government allowed the US to mediate, what the Indian casualty count was, and why the terrorists involved in the Pahalgam attack have not yet been found.

At the same time, the BJP has sharpened its offensive against the Congress, accusing it of compromising India’s foreign policy and national interest. Prime Minister Modi himself has criticised Nehru for inserting clauses in the Indus Water Treaty that, he said, benefited Pakistan.

Tharoor, meanwhile, has been grabbing attention abroad. As head of one of the parliamentary delegations sent overseas after Operation Sindoor, he has been vocal in support of the government’s anti-terror stance. His delegation has travelled to the US, Guyana, and Panama — meeting lawmakers, think tanks, and diaspora groups to explain India’s “precise and calibrated" response to cross-border terrorism.

And while the Congress cannot publicly criticise Tharoor for speaking out against Pakistan, the discontent is real. At a time when senior party leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi are taking on the government, Tharoor’s statements are seen to be in contradiction with the party line — and too aligned with the BJP narrative for comfort.

The friction has been brewing ever since Tharoor was included in the delegation — a decision not made by the Congress. When asked by the government to suggest four names for the international outreach initiative, the party had recommended Anand Sharma, Gaurav Gogoi, Dr. Syed Naseer Hussain, and Raja Brar. But the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs announced Tharoor’s name instead. The BJP, for its part, dismissed the Congress’s list as “questionable," with spokesperson Amit Malviya posting on X that the choices were not just intriguing but deeply questionable.

In Panama, Tharoor said: “What has changed in recent years is that the terrorists have also realized they will have a price to pay, on that, let there be no doubt." Referencing the 2016 Uri surgical strike, he added that it was the first time India breached the Line of Control to hit a terror launch pad. He stressed that even during the Kargil War, India had not crossed the LoC — but did so after Uri, and again following the Pulwama attack in February 2019.

“This time, we crossed not only the Line of Control but also the international border, and we struck the terrorist headquarters in Balakot," Tharoor said, referring to Operation Sindoor. He further added, “We have not only gone beyond the Line of Control and the international border. We have struck at the Punjabi heartland of Pakistan by hitting terror bases, training centres, and terror headquarters in nine places."

But the discord inside the Congress continues to grow. It’s a simmering battle — one the party is not addressing openly or officially for now. Yet the discomfort is palpable.

It’s also being seen in the light of Jairam Ramesh’s earlier words: “Congress mein rehne mein aur saath rehne mein antar hai" — there is a difference between being in the Congress and standing with it. That remark, once cryptic, now resonates more clearly in the context of Tharoor’s apparent divergence from the party’s messaging.

And sources say the day may not be far when this saath — the togetherness — finally breaks.

News politics Congress Can’t Oppose Tharoor’s Stand On Pakistan, But The Discomfort Is Hard To Miss